RJ connectors are commonly used in telecommunications and data networking equipment. Such connectors are typically employed for electrical connection between two communication devices. For example, RJ45 connectors are standard for interconnecting Ethernet devices.
RJ connectors employ a male connector plug and a female connector jack. The present invention concerns an improved female connector jack and a connector jack assembly.
A connector jack, such as the one shown on FIG. 1, characteristically is constructed by a generally rectangular dielectric housing 11, the dielectric housing having a front face 12 with a receptacle 18 for receiving the male connector plug (not shown), and a bottom face 13 adapted for mounting on the circuit board (not shown). The circuit board upon which the jack is physically mounted will herein be referred to as the host circuit board.
The dielectric housing typically also defines a left face 14, a right face 15, a top face 16, and a rear face 17.
The receptacle 18 on the front face 12 of the dielectric housing 11 includes a cavity 20 that is shaped and dimensioned to mate with the male connector plug. Positioned inside the cavity are electrical contacts 21 for mating with the electrical contacts of the plug. These contacts are typically spring contacts for biased engagement with the plug.
The bottom face 13 of the jack also has pins or leads 22 protruding from the bottom face towards the host circuit board. These pins or leads conduct electrical signals between the jack and the host circuit board. These pins or leads may include a direct extension of the spring contacts 21, or be independent from the spring contacts. The pins or leads 22 can be shaped for thru-hole or surface mounting to the host circuit board. In many commercially available jacks, pins 22 alternatively protrude from the rear face 17 of the jack.
Many connector jacks have internal chambers (not shown) that house additional electronic components, such as signal conditioning components, electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection components, power-over-Ethernet components, and any other necessary circuits.
Some, but not all connector jacks have a shield 23. The typical shield is stamped out of sheet metal and formed as to envelope the dielectric housing 11 of the jack. Typically, the shield 23 also has solder tails 24 by which the shield is grounded to the host circuit board. Solder tails 24 also perform the function of securing the jack on the host circuit board.
The male connector plug and jack also incorporate a latching mechanism for reliable engagement with each other. This mechanism consists of a latching shoulder on the plug (not shown) and corresponding latching shoulders 25 on the connector jack. The latching shoulders on the jack are located on the front face 12 and in the proximity to the bottom face 13 of the jack.
The use of the latching mechanism for reliable mating of the male plug with the female jack constitutes one of the best design elements of RJ connectors. This latching mechanism, however, also increases the height of the jack as it extends downwards from the plug-receiving cavity 20 on the front face 18 of the jack.
Continuous miniaturization of electronic devices demands an ever-increasing density of component placement on printed circuit boards and miniaturization of electronic components. While most electronic parts used in modern circuit board assemblies have shrunk dramatically in size, the connector jack has remained essentially unchanged, with its outline dimensions dictated mainly by the size of the connector plug and the corresponding receptacle cavity on the jack combined with the space occupied by the latching mechanism of the jack.
Several attempts has been made to somewhat decrease the overall dimensions of the connector jack. Most of these attempts have concentrated on decreasing jack height. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,526 discloses a jack of reduced height, and the height reduction is achieved by moving the latching mechanism off the jack and onto the bottom side of the housing of the electronic device in which the jack is installed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,172 discloses a low-profile jack, in which the reduction in the jack height is achieved by delegating the latching function of the jack to the host circuit board.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,210 also discloses a low-profile jack, where the height of the jack is reduced by dividing the latching function of the jack between the jack itself and the host circuit board.
The above inventions have only managed to reduce the height of the jack, and even the reduction in height was not dramatic. The length and width of the jack, and hence, the space occupied by the jack on the host circuit board, have remained essentially the same.
Unable to decrease the jack size further, inventors and manufacturers have attempted to add functionality to the jack in order to better utilize the space occupied by this component on the host circuit board.
One popular improvement was to add status indicators, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), and numerous patents exist on the subject. Many such inventions incorporate complex light tubes, guides, separate lenses, and other means by which the light from the light source is delivered to the front face of the jack.
Majority of the inventions place the status indicators, or areas through which the light exits through the front face of the jack, to the left and to the right of the latching mechanism of the jack. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,613,873, 5,685,737, 5,741,152, 5,876,239, 5,915,993, 6,224,417, 6,334,787, and 6,431,906 all disclose such jack designs.
Some inventors have also added the status indicators, or areas through which the light exits through the front face of the jack, to the portion of the jack, opposite to the latching mechanism and in the area proximal to the top face of the jack. Examples of such jack designs can be found in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,978,317 and 5,885,100.
It is noteworthy that despite a variety of disclosed approaches, the above patents only anticipated a rather limited number of status indicators provided per each jack—typically no more than two. At the same time, the increase in complexity and sophistication of modern electronic devices demands that more status indicators are implemented and it is not uncommon to have devices that require four or more of such status indicators to be provided. For example, a miniature electronic device, barely larger than the jack it encompasses, may require one status light to indicate a network link status, another light to indicate the type of the link (10BaseT or 100BaseT), as well as two additional lights to indicate the operating mode of the device itself.
Providing signal conditioning components within the jack housing is another popular method of extending jack functionality and justifying the host board space occupied by the jack. Examples of such inventions can be found in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,587,884 and 6,171,152.
Jacks with integrated isolation and filtering components, known as “jacks with magnetics”, are currently commonplace. Many related patents claim to integrate magnetics into the jack while maintaining essentially the same host circuit board footprint as that of a simple jack with no magnetics.
Ironically, in real life, integrating conditioning components within the jack has led to an increase in average jack size and, consequently, the footprint occupied by the jack on the host circuit board. This is because these components must be able to withstand significant levels of ESD and high common-mode voltages. This prevents the miniaturization of such components. More recently, power-over-Ethernet circuits have also been integrated into some jacks, thus further increasing the area occupied by such jacks on the host circuit boards.
Finally, some inventors have even integrated data processing capabilities into the jack. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,881,096 discloses a jack that integrates not only magnetics, but also a processor, Ethernet controller, memory, and other computing components within a jack. Needless to say that such increase in jack functionality has led to the enlargement of the jack and its corresponding footprint on the host circuit board.
Thus, while integrating more functional elements within the jack, the above inventions also increase the space occupied by the jack on the host circuit board and, hence, decrease the host circuit board space available to other electronic components.